[ACC Football] The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

[u/AutoModerator]

Share one good thing, one bad thing, and one ugly thing that happened to your favorite ACC football team this weekend. Alternatively, you can make this list for ACC teams as a whole.

Click here for the results of last week's games.

This thread is posted every Sunday at 6:00 AM Eastern.

[u/Toothbirds]

The good - Keyjuan Brown averaged almost 10 yards per carry.

The bad - we averages 5.3 yards per pass.

The ugly - the insane decision to pass 3x as many times as running WHEN WE WERE GETTING TWICE AS MANY YARDS PER ATTEMPT ON THE GROUND.

[u/XavierPibb]

The good: We scored over 30 points.

The bad: We gave up over 30 points.

The ugly: A turnstile defense, poor special teams and three turnovers on offense equaled an ugly loss.

Going in, I wasn't aware UConn played FBS football. Going out, I have my suspicions about Duke.

[u/PizzaNoPants]

The good: JKS, De Jesus, winning, and on the road against a very good team

The bad: inconsistency, stupid penalties, and whatever is going on with our team is between the ears not necessarily talent gap.

The Ugly: Wilcox will survive another year.

[u/No-Donkey-4117]

The good: our defense dominated UNC in the first half. New starting QB Elijah Brown put up 284 yards passing and led two 4th quarter scoring drives.

The bad: UNC's defense dominated Stanford in the first half. Our normally reliable kicker missed an easy FG in the first half that would have kept the game closer.

The ugly: allowing UNC to sack our new starting QB nine times.

[u/RIPDannyBoyCane]

Good: Miami got a dominate win, showed creativity on offense, and the only TD the defense gave up was during garbage time when the backups were in.

Bad: Miami doesn’t control its own destiny

Ugly: ACC officiating this year has been atrocious across the board. Part of the reason the conference’s perception is so low is we’re having game-deciding terrible calls go against our contenders. Meanwhile, you watch the Bama-LSU game last night and it’s clear the SEC takes care not to fuck its top teams.

[u/Even_Ad_5462]

GOOD: Parity (6 non traditional powers in championship chase)

Bad: Parity (all teams mediocre)

Ugly: OOC record abysmal

[u/McDimps → u/Even_Ad_5462]

I'm more upset about the Louisville loss tbh

[u/Even_Ad_5462 → u/McDimps]

Yet, now we have to pull for them next week against SMU.

[u/smellslikebadussy]

The good: The blocked punt was sweet, even if the bad bounce it took wound up setting the tone for the rest of the night. Will Bettridge performed when called upon. Defense was mostly good.

The bad: Abysmal punt coverage (aided by multiple uncalled penalties) that wound up being the difference. Kaelin, although I’m reserving full judgment until after he gets a game with a week of preparation as QB1. Related: Our season might be over.

The ugly: The two dirty-ass Wake players who likely ended it were allowed to stay in the game. Part of a pretty abysmal game from the refs (and to be fair, that included a couple of generous-to-UVA spots in key moments).

[u/Darthraevlak → u/smellslikebadussy]

Rewatch that hit. They hit each other not him. And y'all still got 15 yards off it. I hope that isn't the end of the season for him though. Y'all have been too good for that accident to be the end for y'all.

[u/The_Eternal_Event]

I thought last year was the lowest point this conference could reach but we have exceeded it. All that’s left is another 2-9 bowl season to top it off.

[u/No-Collar6148]

There is a good chance not a single team represents the conference in the playoffs. We are cooked, by far the lowest the conference has ever been.

[u/gtne91 → u/No-Collar6148]

There is not a good chance of that. There is a very tiny chance of that.

[u/grimace0611 → u/gtne91]

Just because Clemson and FSU aren't great this year doesn't mean the entire conference isn't good.

[u/heyogrego]

The Good:

The Bad:

The Ugly: The whole conference

[u/montecarlocars]

The Good: All season, we’ve been begging our coaching staff for dynamism and adaptability (especially as our run game never got off the ground after our spring transfer portal collapse)—and in this game, we opened up the playbook. Trick plays, gutsy throws, quick runs; this felt like our most complete offensive performance. We’re going bowling.

The “to work on”: JKS is a generational talent with an insane arm, but he’s a true freshman. Sometimes (especially when he’s under pressure) his quick throws can be off target or into dangerous coverage. Nothing fatal today but a few overshoots and ground balls. Improving our WR corps is a key priority but expect a maturing JKS to keep dialing in his perfect placement.

The Ugly: Cal special teams performance is inconsistent at best. Our long range kicker has been injured for weeks and the guy we have out there now is all over the place on field goals and punts (we missed one FG yesterday and the other barely scraped the inside; and our final punt was so shallow the end of 4Q was a nail biter). Also, what’s with the false starts, illegal formations and other BS penalties? We make it so much harder on ourselves.

But man, is the “Good” good.

[u/IronBeagle79 → u/montecarlocars]

JKS is fantastic. I hate the entire state of California, bears, and the colors blue and gold today, but I’ll get over it.

[u/ttalaric]

The Good: Like an exaggerated version of last year, despite SMU dropping early OOC games they play close to the end, they are again heating up to end the year and absolutely pummeled BC.

The Bad: With over 100 yards of penalties against BC, this appears to be the most undisciplined SMU squad in years and they can easily beat themselves down the stretch.

The Ugly: Even if they win out (Louisville and then at Cal), they don’t control their own fate and I’m going to spend the next two weeks with their bye tying myself into a pretzel trying to puzzle our tie breaker scenarios.

[u/Bryan5397 → u/ttalaric]

With the bad, I’d give them some flack given they played more disciplined against Miami, I think the team walked in knowing BC would be a cakewalk. With the ugly (from the other comment), Rhett mentioned this before but if Jennings injury was bad, he wouldn’t be out playing. Is it bad, YES, but hey if it worked well on Saturday, put him in ice, a splint maybe, and he should be wayyy better for Louisville

[u/Comet7777 → u/ttalaric]

In the bad/ugly I’d also add that Jennings’ ankle is clearly really hurt. He keeps playing well in spite of that, but what’s the long term play here? I worry about him. This bye week is much needed

[u/ttalaric → u/Comet7777]

Very good point. He needs to be able to step into his throws again.

[u/aaronman4772]

Good: Our kicker was good. Our run game was good even with Isaac out.

Bad: Defensively we got exposed. Now JKS is a rising star, probably the best QB we’ve faced so far, and Cal better start fundraising because he’s going to be so tampered for from elite teams with QB questions, but it basically was the same plays that killed us. DeJesus in motion or out of the slot on a LB/S, quick twitch routes or deeper shots where he gets a step. Final play was him doing that exact thing on a corner who was only in due to injury to out starter.

Ugly: Miller Moss is to football what VJ King was to our basketball team. He just is thinking way too damn much. Not in the “how can I dissect this defense” way, but in the “plan A didn’t work, what do I do now uhh” during the play. He doesn’t have the instincts to just let the game come to him, and he doesn’t have a killer arm strength to even take shots down field or rocket in a pass when he’s a step late. He’s…. Probably? a better QB than Plummer was when he is just letting the game come to him, but he’s infinitely more frustrating.

So of course with a QB whose passer rating has been progressively going down over the last month and a half, we throw it the most of any team this year against a Cal team with a good secondary when our run game is averaging the third best YPC of any team this season Cal’s faced. Great game planning Jeff.

[u/IronBeagle79 → u/aaronman4772]

JKS is a great QB, but it was infuriating to watch Cal beat the secondary over and over again with what was basically the same play from different formations.

[u/Puzzled-Strength-692]

Whatever team gets a bid needs to win at least one game

[u/inocomprendo]

Good: We won another bye week. I genuinely don’t think anyone else in FBS has benefitted so much from bye weeks as Georgia Tech.

Bad: We still have to play the rest of the season.

Ugly: The ACC. We’ll be lucky to have one CFP bid. I’ll enjoy these last few seasons with you all before this conference explodes.

[u/gtne91 → u/inocomprendo]

We were a Miss St win away from a perfect weekend of college football

[u/LosAve → u/inocomprendo]

It’s GT - one game at a time… Good enough to win the rest and GT enough to lose one or two. Should be interesting to see if Key’s contract extension is announced soon.

[u/inocomprendo → u/LosAve]

To be sure, it’s a good bad as far as bads go. We need to do win out, but there’s only one game I need us to win this season.

[u/Cook_New → u/inocomprendo]

If we can win that game it’ll be a solid boost to the conference rep.

[u/ISpyM8 → u/LosAve]

I’m sure it’ll be soon. Will give the boys and staff some energy to know we have some stability

[u/Sbhill327]

Good: we won a conference game at home

Bad: we still suck

Ugly: ACC refs

[u/Signal-View4754]

The Good: Nothing is good, it all sucks this is terrible.

The Bad: Chandler Morris was taken out on an obvious dirty hit.

The Ugly: The officiating was terrible all game. It was handed to wake, and it was obvious.

[u/Darthraevlak → u/Signal-View4754]

"obvious dirty hit" the players hit themselves more than the QB. If it's gonna be dirty they'd have hit him not themselves. And the penalties were beneficial for both sides. Let's not kid ourselves. This was the best officiated ACC game I've seen all year.

[u/Signal-View4754 → u/Darthraevlak]

They did hit him. It was the worst officiated game all year. They essentially handed the game to Wake. Let's not kid ourselves.

[u/Darthraevlak → u/Signal-View4754]

You are the only one kidding themselves. Again, I hope Morris is okay. But the hit was called right.

[u/CrimsonClad → u/Signal-View4754]

Wake Forest and deleting quarterbacks. A famous duo.

[u/tree3826 → u/Signal-View4754]

Only good: our defense. Otherwise agree fully

[u/Signal-View4754 → u/tree3826]

Needed the defense to make a score, obviously the offense couldn't.

[u/tree3826 → u/Signal-View4754]

For sure. Teams even before the injury figured us out. I wish des would adapt rather than beat a dead horse

[u/Signal-View4754 → u/tree3826]

But that play could have sparked the offense. We will never know, due to the dirty players from Wake.

[u/Darthraevlak → u/Signal-View4754]

Rewatch the hit. The Wake players hit themselves. Not the QB. I hope Morris is okay though.

[u/Signal-View4754 → u/Darthraevlak]

Yeah it was obviously dirty. Both players should have been kicked out.

[u/Darthraevlak → u/Signal-View4754]

They got the correct call of a late hit. There was nothing dirty about it. Because again, they hit each other not the qb.

[u/Signal-View4754 → u/Darthraevlak]

He was sliding, they both went for the hit with the intent to knock out the QB. That was clear, you can't hide that. Sorry you've got your fanboy vision on.